A Vampire's Kiss
by alabastor
Summary: One night, Harry wakes up after having the same dream for the past few weeks. When he ventures into the Forbidden Forest, he discovers an ancient clan of creatures, and gets caught between a feud that's been raging over the past few centuries... Please RR
1. chapter one

A/N- just to warn major HP fans, this is a story with things that would never happen in the books. I might stretch some things in the story, but Hogwarts, Harry Potter, Ron, Hermione, all those characters I don't own. I only own any characters that I create, and anything I might write that has to do with the characters.

I'll update as soon as I get reviews. Thanks.

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_Harry was stumbling through the forest. He was in his pajamas, and had been drawn into the forest by an odd howl._

_Now he was running through the woods, branches scratching his face and arms. He guessed that he was deep in the forest. Suddenly he stumbled down a path, and landed in a small clearing. In the center of it was a large wooden cross, and a young girl was tied to it by the wrists._

_Harry momentarily forgot what was chasing him, and walked over to the girl. He reached up and gently ran his finger over a long scratch on her cheek, as blood slowly dripped down her chin. She was very pale, and had fair, blond hair. She was wearing a long white dress, but there were three deep gashes in her abdomen that bled down her skirt. Harry looked closely at them, and noticed they seemed to be from a large animal. Harry took pity on the girl, and reached up to untie her. As soon as he did, a giant werewolf galloped into the clearing, and at the crash, the girl's eyes opened the reveal pools of electric blue and black. _

Harry awoke with a start, breathing heavily. He put his hand up to his forehead, finding that he had been in a cold sweat. He had been having these dreams steadily since the new moon. Tonight there was a full moon, and Harry could hear the howls of Professor Lupin from the Shrieking Shack. But there were other wolves out tonight. Harry could hear the distinct growl of wild werewolves that were in the forest. Then Harry heard a faint scream. He quickly grabbed his wand out of instinct, and headed out to the forest. This was always how the dream started out, and he wanted to get to the bottom of its mystery.

About a half an hour later, Harry was at the part of the dream where he was being chased. He slid on the damp ground, and through layers of leaves. His heart gave a leap as he heard the not-too-distant growl of a full-grown werewolf, almost at his heels. Harry made a lot of difficult turns to remember, and didn't know how far into the forest he was.

Up to this point, everything that had happened in the forest had happened in the dream. Then, unexpectedly, Harry lost his footing and was falling down a leaf filled pathway. He felt tree stumps hit him in the back and stomach, and felt tree limbs catch his t-shirt, and grab at his neck. At the bottom of the pass, Harry fell in a heap on soft ground. He looked around at the setting as he pushed himself up by the arms. The moon was in full view, and the light was shining down, and made the effect that it was daytime. It was a circular clearing, and it had a lot of sun-dried grass that was about knee high. Harry hadn't gotten a good view of anything but the girl in his dream. And sure enough, when Harry looked to the center of the clearing, there was a large cross, and a young girl was tied to it by her wrists. Harry walked up to her and saw the scratch down her cheek, and the deep gashes through her bodice. He saw her pale face, and curly, golden hair. It was tied high up off her face in an old fashioned manner. Harry studied her features better than before. She had a softly curving nose, and oval eyes. She didn't look a day older than seventeen. He even noticed that she wore a cross on a chain on her neck, so Harry ruled out the suspicion that she was a vampire.

Then suddenly the roar that was scheduled finally came. Harry turned to the girl just as her eyes shot open. But this time, Harry wasn't going to awake, safe in his bed. This time the nightmare was real. The girl stared hard at Harry, and he felt as though she were looking into his very soul. After a few moments, she paid attention to the beast that was seconds away from them.

"Use your wand, and untie me," she girl said calmly, in the most convincing voice Harry had ever heard. He did as she said, and just before the wolf ran them down, she grabbed onto Harry's wrist, and leapt lightly, but forcefully onto the top of the cross, pulling him along behind her. She landed with grace at the very top pole, and turned to face her opponent. Harry watched her in a daze, as she stood royally on the tiny platform that was her throne. She stared confidently down her nose to where a vicious wolf should have been standing, but instead a tiny man, with ratty clothes and numerous scars was in its place.

"Cecilia, my love. What's been keeping you from awakening?" the man asked humbly, holding out his arms.

The girl leapt off of the top of the cross with grace, and landing easily in a catlike manner. She walked up to the man and stared him fixedly in the eyes. "Hello Roland," she said calmly, raising an eyebrow.

Harry watched the scene before him in shock. What was this man? And what sort of creature was this girl? She had terrible wounds, and had been passed out just a few moments ago, but she acted as though nothing at all had happened.

The man bowed slightly, and the girl smirked down at him in an unapproving manner.

"Oh get up, you pile of bones. I don't need your manners. Now if I may ask, what was I doing tied to a cross?" the girl asked, turning away to look at it. She crossed her arms in front of herself, and examined the woodwork.

"I-I.... well-"

"And why was it **your** followers that captured me in a net, and tried to knock me out with a lumos spell?" she asked fiercely, turning back to the man named Roland, and advancing on him. But Harry was sure she hadn't moved at all. Cecilia was, indeed intimidating.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you. I never gave that order. Not in the dead of night, and in _your_ territory," Roland said, folding his hands behind his back. Cecilia smirked.

"I must give you credit Roland. First you capture me. Then you bring Mr. Potter out here to lure into a trap. Oh don't look so surprised; do you really think that Lupin can use a proper Lumos charm on me? Now really, that is just insulting. Anyway, I would appreciate it much if you and your," she looked around the clearing, "...friends, would evacuate the premises, before I have no other choice but to call my leader," Cecilia said.

"Of course, my lady," Roland said with sarcasm, backing away from Cecilia and bowing. He walked calmly toward the shade of the forest, and a group of followers that was hiding in the brush joined him. Cecilia watched them leave, then turned back to Harry, who was sitting on the cross, and frozen to the spot.

"Come with me, Mr. Potter," she said, holding out her hand.

"I can't jump down. I might kill myself," he said croakily, for the first time that night.

"No you won't. Now jump," she said convincingly. Harry did as he was told, and although he didn't know it, he jumped with Cecilia's guidance, and landed safely on the ground. "Follow me," she said, turning around, and heading off in the opposite direction of the werewolves. He hesitated, but curiosity got the better of him, so he followed her.

Cecilia led Harry deep into the forest. After what seemed like hours Harry noticed a small clearing ahead of him.

"We are almost at our destination," Cecilia said, a hint of happiness in her voice. Harry looked around at the people in the clearing. They all had the same pale complexion as Cecilia, and they all had the same blue/black eyes.

Cecilia walked without expression through the camp, looking sideways at some of the people surrounding her.

Harry followed her through the clan. He soon followed closely behind Cecilia as the people started giving him odd stares. About halfway through the camp, Cecilia stopped, and Harry bumped into her accidentally. She was pushed forward slightly, but didn't seem to notice.

"Why have you brought a human here, Cecilia?" a man asked in a breathless voice. Cecilia looked back at Harry. He seemed to be in a trance.

"He saved my life," she said calmly, still staring at him. Then she turned to the man talking to her. "Where is Lord Jared?" she asked, her hands hanging limply at her sides.

"He's where he always is," the man answered, pointing towards a nearby clearing. "I would advise not to bother him now. He is in one of his trances."

"I think I have good reason to interrupt him," Cecilia said, pushing past him. The man grabbed her arm. She turned quickly, and looked questioningly at him. "Elliot, I don't have time for your games. Let me go so I may speak with our Lord," she said still calm, walking up to him, her wrist held tightly in Elliot's hand.

"What is your reason? We all shall know soon enough," Elliot said, letting her go.

"All will reveal itself in due course," she said, looking him hard in the eyes that mirrored her own. Then she looked to Harry. "Come with me," she commanded, turning around and walking to the center of the clearing. Harry followed her quickly, staring nervously back at the people that Cecilia must live with. He thought it was odd that no one paid any attention to her wounds. They were very serious, but she didn't seem bothered by them, and no one seemed to care about her health.

Cecilia led Harry up to a very frail, old man that was sitting with his legs crossed. Harry could only guess that this was the Lord Jared that Cecilia was talking about. When she was a few feet away from the man Cecilia bent down on one knee, and bowed her head. Harry hesitantly did the same.

"What brings you out here, my dear Cecilia?" Lord Jared asked.

"My Lord, there is trouble in the forest tonight," Cecilia said, bringing her head up so she could get a better view of the man.

"And what trouble might that be?" Lord Jared asked.

"The werewolves are out tonight. That Lupin man has joined Roland as well. They are preparing an attack on the clan; tonight!" Cecilia said urgently. Harry could feel the man's back muscles tense, and his face harden.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Positive. They tried to kill me, my Lord," Cecilia said, bowing her head to look at her knees.

"And the boy?" Lord Jared asked. Harry noticed that he never conversed with her. Just asked questions.

"This is Harry Potter, my lord. He...saved my life," Cecilia said, looking over at him. He noticed that her eyes seemed warm.

"Tell the others to clean out camp completely. Make it so there was no evidence we were here. And tell them to head for the castle. Leave no tracks. We must not be followed. Bring the Potter boy," Lord Jared said, waving a hand casually. There was a hint of worry in his voice.

"Yes, my Lord," Cecilia said, bowing her head again, and standing up. She walked back to the forest, to pass on the message to her comrades.

A little while later, the camp was clean, and assortments of men, women and children were gliding effortlessly through the sky.

"So what are you?" Harry asked, looking up at Cecilia. She looked down at him, then looked back in front of her.

"What do you mean?" she asked calmly.

"Well I don't think you're a werewolf. Or a vampire. From what I've read, vampires aren't holy creatures, so crosses burn their skin," Harry said, still looking up at her.

"Well what _do_ you think I am?" she asked, smirking.

"I have three guesses. Siren, temptress, or veela," Harry said, looking in the direction they were heading.

"Well if I was a veela, you would be dazed, and you would try to impress me. So I am not a veela. And if I were a siren, I would be a water spirit. There go two of your guesses," Cecilia said, playing along with Harry's game.

"Well then that leaves temptress," Harry said, looking back up at her. She stared hard in front of her.

"Not necessarily, Mr. Potter," she said, gliding lower into the trees. "If I were a temptress, this would be a clan of women only. And as you've noticed, there are men and children," she pointed out.

"Well then what are you?" Harry asked. Cecilia glided even lower to the ground, and touched down lightly. She let go of his hand and started to walk in the shadow of a towering castle that Harry had never noticed before. "Well?"

"I'm a vampire," she said quietly, not turning to look at him.


	2. chapter two

Harry stared at her for a few moments. That didn't make sense. From what he had read about vampires, crosses burnt their skin. He assumed that he could be wrong, but the thought of vampires in the Forest seemed a bit far-fetched.

"You're a vampire?" he asked for, what seemed like the hundredth time. Cecilia sighed.

"Yes, Mr. Potter. What don't you understand about it? I am a blood-drinking creature from hell. It's so normal for you're kind," she said, gathering the arrows she had just finished preparing. Harry stared at her.

"How can you say that so casually?" he asked, feeling disgusted. She shrugged.

"The feeling comes naturally after the first few hundred years," she said simply. Harry stared at her. He had never taken into account how old she must be.

"What do you mean, 'you're kind'?" Harry asked, referring to what she had said a moment ago.

"Wizards. You should be used to living among demons and odd creatures. Like my kind," she said, putting her arrows in a quiver.

"How did you become a vampire?" he asked, staring at her. Cecilia sighed, setting down her quiver, and staring out the window. She rested her hands on the sill as a light breeze ruffled the satiny white curtains.

"Beautiful, isn't it? The moon that is," she said, not turning around.

"Look, don't try and-"

"That's what I was trying to see on that unforgettable night, so long ago. The professors warned all the students not to leave the castle, not to go outside during the night. Mind you, it was when the vampire clan was much more powerful.

"Anyway, I didn't listen to dear old Godric. I left the Gryffindor Tower at around midnight. I thought that if the vampires were out that night, they would have been headed back for their home by then. But I was wrong." Cecilia kept staring out the window, but she wasn't seeing anything. The memory played before her eyes. "I went up to the Astronomy Tower, because naturally, that is the prime place to view the heavens. It was a beautiful night. Quite like this night. I remember how I walked around the platform, wanting to see every star in the sky. I didn't hear them coming. Before I knew what was happening, they were on me like a pack of wolves. It was Elliot that did it. He bit into my skin like an animal," she said, her voice shaking. Harry could tell she was on the verge of tears. "Then came Lord Jared. Elliot threw me on the ground. You know there's nothing quite like the feeling of life leaving your body. But Jared took pity on me. He saved what he could of my soul," she sighed, "and they brought me here. To this very room. And I became one of them. One of the walking dead. Sure it's not a life many would wish to live, but I had to choose between life and death, and I couldn't bare the thought of dieing. Many times I've thought that I was better off that way. Instead of being trapped in this prison." Harry stared at her. There had never been any problems at Hogwarts with vampires. He was silent for a few moments.

"What are you going to do about those gashes?" he asked, trying to get off the depressing subject.

"I'll go to Julienne. She'll heal me. But they aren't a problem," Cecilia said, grabbing her weapon.

"Why don't you go now?" he asked, walking over to her, and inspecting her cuts.

"You're quite full of questions this evening. Besides, there's no point in going now. I'm only going to get hurt even more," she said, pushing him off. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Then Elliot came in. Harry looked away from Elliot, remembering that he was the one that made Cecilia who she was.

"The Lord Jared wishes to speak with you," he said quickly, before turning out of the room again.

"Come on," she said, leading Harry out. Harry followed her through the castle, staring at different people as he walked past.

The castle was a gaunt place. Very different from the cheerful corridors of Hogwarts. Every way Harry turned, there were people lurking in the shadows, staring at him oddly. He stayed close to Cecilia, not wanting to think of what might happen if she wasn't around him.

"I'm going to take you to Julienne. She will watch over you. Stay with her, and stay inside. Do not wander, there are many young vampires who wish to feed," Cecilia said, a hint of urgency in her voice. Harry felt as though she were preparing him for some sort of war. Little did he know, she indeed was.

Julienne's room was, if possible, more depressing than the rest of the castle. There were many beds lining the walls, and there were a few cabinets around the room. It looked much like the infirmary.

"Who is this...human, Cecilia?" Julienne asked, walking sulkily over to them, and staring down at Harry. He noticed that most of the vampires stood proudly, and confidently. Cecilia placed an arm between them.

"I want you to watch over him. Don't you dare let any harm come to him Julienne, I'm trusting you," Cecilia said. Julienne laughed, a haunting sound that echoed throughout the room. Was nothing in a vampire's company cheerful?

"You should have learned long ago, not to trust me," Julienne said. Harry stared at her. She looked as though she were in her twenties. She had dark hair, and the familiar electric eyes.

"But I am hoping that you have learned from past mistakes," Cecilia said, placing a hand on Julienne's arm, and gripping it tightly. Julienne's smile disappeared, and she closed her eyes from the pain.

"Alright, fine. I'll watch over the boy, whoever he is, and I promise you, no harm will come to him," she said, once Cecilia let go of her.

"You promise?" Cecilia asked, tilting her head.

"Cross my heart. Whatever's left of it," Julienne muttered as she walked away, to tend to one of the men that were in her care. Cecilia sighed, and turned to Harry.

"Do you have your wand?" she asked. Harry nodded, and held it up for her to see. "Do not let your wand get away from you," she advised, as she left him.

"You can sit there, boy," Julienne called, pointing to a chair on the far wall. Harry took her offer, but sat uncomfortably in the dark.

* * *

Harry was shaken awake after what seemed like hours. Then suddenly, there was screaming from outside. He instantly looked out the window, but heavy drapes had covered them. He looked around the room, and after his eyes adjusted, he noticed that Julienne was staring at him. She was hovering in a sitting position, an arms length away, and was staring straight into his eyes.

"You don't know how nice it is to meet someone that doesn't have blue eyes," she said longingly.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, standing up, and stretching slightly.

"Well if you haven't noticed, all vampires have blue eyes," she said, standing up again, and preparing the beds. Apparently, she was expecting patients.

"Well, I had noticed, but I didn't give it much thought. Why?" he asked, sitting down again.

"I don't know. But I do remember that I had the most beautiful brown eyes when I was younger. When I was...alive," she said solemnly. "Never take anything for granted when you're alive. Don't wish to grow up too fast. Be happy with who you are. And trust me, if given the chance to live this life, or die, choose death," Julienne said sadly. Harry knew she was trying to give him good advice, and was trying to make him feel welcome, but she was failing badly. Then there was a rush of bodies through the door. Bed after bed was being filled, and the moans of vampires filled the hall. The stench of blood made the room suffocating, and made Harry sick, but he needed to find Cecilia. He promised he wouldn't leave until she had come for him. He walked through the room, looking over the wounded, and helping Julienne in any way he could. Then he finally found Cecilia.

She was lying on one of the infirmary beds, taking labored breaths, and closing her eyes in pain. Harry went over to her, and bent over her.

"Cecilia, what happened?" he asked, taking one of hands in his, hoping she would be alright.

"She was bitten by a werewolf. I believe it was your beloved Professor Lupin again," Elliot said, standing above her, and staring down at her sympathetically.

"Again?" Harry asked, looking up at Elliot.

"When Lupin was your Professor four years ago, he ventured away from his hideout one full moon. We vampires just happened to be out fighting this same battle even then. He had joined the others, and attacked us. He bit Cecilia. Mr. Lupin seems to have a taste for her blood," Elliot explained, staring down at Cecilia. Harry stared back at her, until Julienne came, and pushed him out of the way.

"What happened?" Julienne asked, starting to clean the wound on her stomach.

"She was bitten again," Elliot said, standing with his hands behind his back. Julienne sighed.

"This girl needs to learn from her mistakes," Julienne said with a sigh. She went to one of her cabinets, and opened it to reveal an array of potions, creams, and other such remedies. She searched through the bottles and tubes until she found what she was looking for.

"How long has it been since the bite?"

"About an hour. We were far into the forest, and took us a while to get back," Elliot said. Julienne took out a common needle that muggles used to give shots, and inserted it into the small bottle. The needle filled with a thin, clear liquid. She went over to Cecilia, and held her arm, and gave her the shot. Cecilia flinched, but a moment later, she opened her eyes. She still ached, but she wouldn't have to worry about the effects of the werewolf bite.

"Harry, if you will, bandage her up for me. I daresay, I have a lot of other patients that need my help more than this mistake," Julienne said, giving Cecilia a friendly grin, before heading off to tend to the other people. Harry got a bowl of water, and a few bandages, and began cleaning the wound on her arm.

"You stayed," Cecilia said, surprised. Harry smirked.

"I always keep my promises," he replied, concentrating on his job.

"That's a good quality in a man," Cecilia said, smiling at him. Not the cold, chilling smile most vampires gave him, but a warming smile, from her heart. Harry knew she had a heart in her. She couldn't be so kind if she didn't.

A/N: I know I said I wouldn't update until I got some reviews, but I didn't want to wait until then. Please review. Constructive criticism is welcomed.


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